Stoves and like apparatus operating with liquefied gas



Nov. 10, 1964 F. CORLET 3,156,379

STOVES AND LIKE APPARATUS OPERATING WITH LIQUEFIED GAS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed March 16, 1962 BY ZW-W Nov. 10, 1964 G. F. CORLET 3,156,379

STOVES AND LIKE APPARATUS OPERATING WITH LIQUEF'IED GAS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed March 16, 1962 ATTORNE);

United States Patent 3,156,379 STOVES AND LIKE APPARATUS OPERATING WITHLlQUEFIEl) GAS Gabriel Flicien Corlet, hierre-Benite, Rhone, France,assignor to AJLG. Socit dApplication des Gaz, Produits Routiers etMatriaux, Paris, Seine, France, a French joint-stock company Filed Mar.16, 1952, Ser. No. 180,266 Claims priority, appliciation France, Apr.28, 1961,

6 Claims. ci. 222- is being screwed into the intermediate support, itslongitudinal displacement causes application of the said sealing memberagainst the wall of the cartridge and thereafter perforation of the saidwall by the needle, any gas leak being thus prevented during theperforating operation. Such an arrangement is described in US. Patents2,853,126 and 2,890,815.

It is essential in such apparatus that once the cartridge is perforatedit cannot be inadvertently liberated from the intermediate support,since its content would then exhaust into the surrounding atmosphere inthe form of a highly inflammable and dangerous gas.

The present invention has for its object to provide an apparatus of thekind in question wherein the gas cartridge will be quite firmly andsecurely retained in the intermediate support, as long as the gas-intakehead is not unscrewed from the said support.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus whichmay use gas cartridges of increased height and consequently of increasedcapacity.

In accordance with the present invention the cartridge ,is retained inthe intermediate support against the action of the gas-intake headapplied downwardly against the upper wall of the said cartridge, byengagement of the concave bottom of the cartridge against the lowertransverse branch of stirrups hinged to the intermediate support, thesaid branch having an inwardly projecting portion which prevents thestirrup-s from being swung aside before the pressure of the gas-intakehead against the cartridge is released.

Each stirrup is preferably made of a U-shaped wire or rod, the ends ofwhich are bent towards each other and are passed through appropriateinner lugs of the intermediate support and engaged into a sleevedisposed between the said lugs.

In the annexed drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a portable stove according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the gas-intake head with the burner of thestove mounted thereon, the utensil supporting arms being shown at thefolded position.

FIG. 4 shows the intermediate support of the gas cartridge with thecartridge-retaining stirrups swung apart to receive the cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a fragmental section taken through line VI-VI of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the gas cartridge mounted in theintermediate support, before the gasintake head is screwed into the saidsupport.

3,1553% Patented Nov. 10, 1964 'ice FIG. 8 is a fragmental section ofthe apparatus after the gas-intake head is fully screwed down into theintermediate support.

The stove illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises three main elements,namely a gas-intake head 1, an intermediate support 2 and a gascartridge 3.

As more particularly illustrated in FIG. 3 the gasintake head 1 carriesan upper burner 4 having a tubular base provided with lateralperforations 4a forming air inlets. Four lateral bosses la, integralwith the gasintake head itself, pivotally carry the ends of four rodsappropriately bent to form utensil supporting arms. FIG. 3 shows thesaid arms at the folded position, while in FIGS. 1 and 2 they have beenunfolded, their lowermost portion resting against the upper side of theintermediate support 2. The gas-intake head 1 further comprises a gascock \with an actuating button 6. As in the above-mentioned patents head1 is formed with a downwardly opening inner bore in which is slidablydisposed a piston having a downwardly extending tubular rod 7, the freelower end of which carries an annular sealing member 8, the said pistonbeing urged outwardly by appropriate spring means. The gas-intake head 1further comprises an inner perforating needle 9 (see FIG. 8) whichterminates well above member 8 at the position of rest of the said head,i.e. when same is not applied against a gas cartridge. Head 1 has alower screw-threaded portion 1b.

The intermediate support 2 (FIG. 4) is in the form of an inverted cup.The horizontal wall or bottom of ths cup-shaped member has a centralhole in :which is secured an internally, threaded ring 10 adapted toreceive portion 1b of the gas-intake head. Ring 10 further clarnpsagainst the inner side of support 2 a spring member comprising threeradially and downwardly projecting blades 11. The cylindrical wall orskirt of support 2 has four punchings 2a which determine lugs 2b (FIG.6) the latter being pierced and bent inwardly so as to form two pairswith the lugs of each pair parallel .to each other, their holes beingdisposed along a common axis perpendicular to the lugs of the pair underconsideration. Between the lugs 2b of each pair is disposed a sleeve 12,preferably made of a plastic material, into which are engaged as a closefit the ends, bent towards each other, of a stirrup 13 made from a rodor wire. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the said ends are passed through thepunchings 2a and through the corresponding lugs 2b, the stirrup beingthus hingedly carried by support 2. Each stirrup 13 comprises twostraight lateral branches and an inwardly curved transverse branch 13a.

The non-refillable cart-ridge 3 is formed of a cylindrical containerhaving an upwardly bulging upper end -reinforced by a bead 3b, and thelower end or bottom 3c is concave or, in other words, bulges inwardly,as clearly shown in FIG. 5.

For mounting a fresh cartridge in the stove, the gasintake head 1 isfirst unscrewed from the intermediate support 2 and the stirrups 13 ofthe latter are swung apart, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The freshcartridge 3 is then received into support 2 and is forced upwardlyagainst the action of spring blades 11. Stirrups 13 are then swunginwardly, whereby their transverse branches 13a are brought below thelower end of the cartridge. When the latter is released it is presseddownwardly by spring blades ll against the said branches 13a (positionof FIG. 7) which thus retain the cartridge in the support. Thegas-intake head 1 is then screwed into ring 10. The lower sealing member8 is first applied against the upper end of the cartridge withindepression 3a which acts as a centering means. The tubular rod 7 and theinner piston carried thereby are then progressively forced inwardlyagainst the action of the inner spring, as fully explained in the abovementioned patents, and the inner needle 9 perforates the upper end ofthe cartridge, any gas leak being fully prevented by member 8. When thegas-intake head is fully screwed down, its inner spring is almost fullycompressed and the cartridge is strongly pressed against the lowertransverse branches 13a of stirrups 13. The latter are then locked inposition since for swinging them aside to liberate the cartridge 3 fromthe intermediate support 2, it would be necessary to displace thecart-ridge upwardly in order that the upwardly projecting centralportions of branches 130 may pass under the lower peripheral bead 3b ofcartridge 3, which is quite impossible, the inner spring of thegas-intake head permitting no noticeable upward displacement of rod 7,i.e. of the cartridge itself.

The cartridge cannot therefore be removed before the gas-intake head 1is again unscrewed from ring 10.

It will be observed that stirrups 13 may be made of such a length as toreceive gas cartridges of any desired height.

I claim:

1. A portable apparatus of the kind using a liquefied combustible gascomprising a substantially cylindrical gas cartridge having a first endand a second end, with said second end having a recess therein definingan inner space; a support in the form of an inverted cup to receive thefirst end of said cartridge, the bottom of said support having asubstantially central hole; spring means within said support to biassaid cartridge outwardly; stirrups hinged to said support, eachcomprising two substantially parallel spaced lateral branches and atrans verse branch disposed under the second end of said cartridge toretain the first end of same in said support against the action of saidspring means, said transverse branch having an inwardly projectingportion which extends into the inner space defined by said recessedsecond end of said cartridge, so that said stirrups cannot be swungoutwardly to liberate said cartridge without first displacing saidcartridge axially towards said support against said spring means; agas-intake head removably securarble in the central hole of said supportto be pressed against the first end of said cartridge, said gas-intakehead embodying inner piercing means to establish gas communicationbetween said cartridge and said head, and annular sealing means toestablish gastight contact between said head and said first end aroundsaid piercing means, the pressure exerted by said head against the firstend of said cartridge maintaining the second end thereof positivelyengaged against the transverse branch of said stirrups.

2. A portable apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second endof said cartridge is of inwardly bulging shape and said transversebranch of each of said stirrups is of inwardly arcuate shape.

3. A portable apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second endof said cartridge is of inwardly bulging shape and has an outwardlyprojecting peripheral bead, and wherein said transverse branch of eachof said stirrups is of inwardly arcuate shape.

4. A portable apparatus of the kind using a liquefied combustible gascomprising a substantially cylindrical gas cartridge having a first endand a second end; a support in the form of an inverted cup to receivesaid first end of said cartridge, said support being formed of a bottomand of a substantially cylindrical wall, said bottom having a centralhole therein and said cylindrical wall having a plurality of pairs ofinwardly projecting perforated lugs obtained by incompletely cuttingopenings in said cylindrical wall of said support, with the lugs of eachpair substantially parallel to each other and having their respectiveperforations substantially situated along a common axis perpendicular tothe geometrical axis of the cylindrical wall of said support; springmeans within said support to bias said cartridge outwardly; stirrupshinged to said support, each comprising .a transverse branch disposedunder the second end of said cartridge to retain the first end thereofin said support against the action of said spring means, and twosubstantially parallel spaced lateral branches disposed outside of thecylindrical wall of said support, each having at its end farther fromsaid transverse branch a portion bent substantially at right angles,with the bent portions of said lateral branches directed towards each 0ter and passing through the openings in the cylindrical wall of saidsupport corresponding to one of said pairs of lugs and through theperforations of the lugs of said one pair.

5. A portable apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the bent ends ofeach of said stirrups is engaged into a sleeve made of a plasticmaterial and disposed between the lugs through which said last-namedbent ends are passed.

6. A portable apparatus of the kind using a liquefied combustible gascomprising a substantially cylindrical gas cartridge having a first endand a second end, with said second end of recessed shape defining aninner space; a support in the form of an inverted cup to receive thefirst end of said cartridge; stirrups hinged to said support, eachcomprising two substantially parallel spaced branches and a transversebranch cooperating with the second end of said cartridge to retain thefirst end thereof engaged in said support, said transverse branch havingan inwardly projecting portion which extends into the inner spacedefined by said recessed second end of said cartridge; and means on saidsupport to act on the upper end of said cartridge to positively applythe lower end thereof against the transverse branch of each of saidstirrups to latch the inwardly projecting portion of said transversebranch in the inner space defined by the recessed second end of saidcartridge and to thereby prevent said stirrups from being swungoutwardly to liberate said cartridge.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 578,389 3/97Challis 292246 2,683,484 7/54 Falligant 15833 2,890,815 6/59 Corlet222-5 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,004,745 12/49 France.

LOUIS J. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

6. A PORTABLE APPARATUS OF THE KIND USING A LIQUEFIED COMBUSTIBLE GASCOMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL GAS CARTRIDGE HAVING A FIRST ENDAND A SECOND END, WITH SAID SECOND END OF RECESSED SHAPE DEFINING ANINNER SPACE; A SUPPORT IN THE FORM OF AN INVERTED CUP TO RECEIVE THEFIRST END OF SAID CARTRIDGE; STIRRUPS HINGED TO SAID SUPPORT, EACHCOMPRISING TWO SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL SPACED BRANCHES AND A TRANSVERSEBRANCH COOPERATING WITH THE SECOND END OF SAID CARTRIDGE TO RETAIN THEFIRST END THEREOF ENGAGED IN SAID SUPPORT, SAID TRANSVERSE BRANCH HAVINGAN INWARDLY PROJECTING PORTION WHICH EXTENDS INTO THE INNER SPACEDEFINED BY SAID RECESSED SECOND END OF SAID CARTRIDGE; AND MEANS ON SAIDSUPPORT TO ACT ON THE UPPER END OF SAID CARTRIDGE TO POSITIVELY APPLYTHE LOWER END THEREOF AGAINST THE TRANSVERSE BRANCH OF EACH OF SAIDSTIRRUPS TO LATCH THE INWARDLY PROJECTING PORTION OF SAID TRANSVERSEBRANCH IN THE INNER SPACE DEFINED BY THE RECESSED SECOND END OF SAIDCARTRIDGE AND TO THEREBY PREVENT SAID STIRRUPS FROM BEING SWUNGOUTWARDLY TO LIBERATE SAID CARTRIDGE.